Why it works: Sauce and lobster are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,095 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Lobster Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lobster
Remove the coral from the lobster and wash it.
Pound the coral with the butter, then rub the mixture through a fine sieve.
Remove the meat from the tail and claws of the lobster and cut it into small pieces.
Make the sauce
Warm the Bechamel sauce.
Add the coral-butter mixture and mix well.
Add the lobster pieces and warm thoroughly.
Season to taste and serve.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Sauce + lobstertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Sauce and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bechamel sauce
- Forms the creamy base that carries the flavour of the lobster.
- Lobster
- Supplies the meat and the coral, giving the sauce its main flavour and body.
- Butter
- Blends with the coral to add richness and a smooth, silky texture.
The step that matters
Rub the coral-butter mixture through a fine sieve. Pounding and sieving breaks the coral into a fine paste so it dissolves smoothly into the sauce. Coarse bits would leave a gritty texture and uneven colour.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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